TROY, N.Y. – The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's basketball team grinded out a 51-47 win over Skidmore today in ECAV Arena.
 
After the Thoroughbreds nudged ahead late in the second period, the Engineers flipped the game after halftime, as Sophie Costello opened the third with a pull-up, Niamh Gendron splashed a right-wing three, Costello buried another from the top of the arc, and Danielle Strauf drilled a corner triple before Megan Heyns beat the horn with a dagger from deep for a 43–34 cushion entering the fourth.

Skidmore answered with a quick three and layup to trim it to 45–41, but RPI steadied through its veterans. Siena Smith hit a pair of paint jumpers and the Engineers strung together consecutive to go up by six with five minutes remaining. The visitors drew within three inside two minutes, yet RPI's defense forced contested looks on successive trips before closing things out at the free throw line.

Smith paced a balanced scoring attack with 11 points, a team-high eight rebounds, five assists and three steals. Tyler Hormazabal added nine points with three steals, Costello finished with seven points and two steals, and Gendron contributed six points and seven boards. Heyns supplied five timely points and Strauf chipped in a critical three-pointer during the decisive run.

As a group, RPI grabbed 39 rebounds, logged 12 steals and 10 fast-break points, and won the turnover battle in a game that featured 11 lead changes and eight ties.

RPI will begin a six-game road trip with a 5:30 pm meeting at Ithaca on Friday.